“It's not just a short-term thing… It's a real thing that gives our team a completely different look.”

Before Saturday's game against Detroit, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the impact of the Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi line, Matt Murray joining the Marlies for conditioning and his current sense of his playoff lineup.

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Morning Skate Notes – April 13th

Max Domi and Timothy Liljegren are ready to go tonight, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe says

Joel Edmundson out; they are too cautious about what appears @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 13, 2024

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Any changes tonight?

Kif: Reeves is here… I can't even remember the line-up tonight. Edmundson goes outside.

Has Joel Edmundson re-aggravated his previous injury?

Kif: It has nothing to do with his previous injury. At this point, something came up that we were overly cautious about. He skated today. Nothing really worries us, but all things considered, we're going to put him to rest tonight.

He is replaced by Liljegren.

What were you looking for from Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren in practice yesterday?

Kif: They've been playing together all season, even though they haven't been playing together at different times, right? It's more about repetition.

They won't be paired in the game tonight, but they'll still shift together and start the O-Zone together. We didn't do it a lot in practice, but we did it consistently in games when Liljegren was healthy.

We haven't thought much about the couples of yesteryear as they relate to today. We look more at the big picture.

Matt Murray was sent to the Marlies on conditioning duty. Can you tell me what he went through to get back to the way he was?

Kif: His actions were wonderful. It was on the outskirts, but you see it every day. You will often see it working when you are alone and not surrounded by many people. You see him doing his thing.

You get a good idea of ​​how long the road has been, but also his mindset, which is to do everything he can to be ready to hit the gridiron this season.

The fact that he is playing in the American League is a great story. Credit to him and his attitude as a professional. It's a far cry from what we're doing here, but it's been great to look at it as something independent.

This is not surprising, because he is a professional. There is no doubt about it. Credit to him. Hopefully he'll come down and have fun and stop pucks.

This isn't necessarily the case with Murray, but teams have used multiple goaltenders in the playoffs lately.

Kif: There is no shortage of these cases. That's why the depth of goal setting is important. That's exactly why we kept Jones here. These are all important things.

Matt himself has several Stanley Cups as a non-starter in the playoffs. You have all kinds of these events over time.

You never know what's going to happen, but it's far from what we're focused on right now.

For young home hockey players like yourself, what would you say about Auston Matthews and how he has fared this season as a player?

Kif: I'm not sure my kids understand what someone like Auston is going through, or what most kids do, but I know it's an interesting thing.

I am with my children in the field, on the ice rink. Yesterday too, about a dozen 10-year-olds ran up to me and told me how many Austons they could get. Everyone is excited about it.

It is inevitable. The Leafs have a lot of young fans — some as young as 10 years old — who have never seen anything like this in the NHL in their entire lives. I get the hype around it. It's definitely a fun thing to do.

I'm more excited to see Auston play and see where his game is. No matter where the number goes, I don't worry about it and never have.

I'm not even sure he cares about that. Where he is right now is a huge success. We'll see what the rest of the season brings tonight, but the main thing for me is that his game is in good order.

He developed great chemistry with Max and Burt. As a result, it gave us many opportunities. That's really what it was like for me.

Do you have a picture of what your playoff lineup will look like, or are you waiting until after Game 82 to find out who your opponent is before you put it together?

Kif: I have a picture of it and have for a while, to be honest, but you think around 82, you don't have all the information until the 82nd game. Health, enemy and all these types are there. of things. You never finish anything.

You know what you want to be, what you want to have, and you're working towards it, but a thing or two… For us, right now, Jarnkrok. This is a factor. How does this affect the group? If it comes in, how do we use it? If not, what is the result? You try to manage things like that during this part of the year.

Honestly, with Auston, Max, and Burt, everyone coming together here is a real thing. It's not just a short-term thing. It's something real that gives our team a completely different look. We wanted to give that time.

To me, you're trying to balance chemistry and continuity and all that, which is important in one way, but how important is it? The reality of this team is that it doesn't mean how it works for others – when we've had breaks or changes, this team has responded positively and gotten better.

We're talking Auston Matthews kind of year. We had a surprise loss to Austin by one game and had to put together some lines against Pittsburgh. We played our best game all season.

These are the things that interest our group. There's a lot of versatility and people who can do different things with the skill of the band. Whether it's some of the guys coming into Game 1 or some of the guys coming out, we've got some good options that have all played very well.

We'll use all 82 to sort it out, but what you've seen lately is a taste of what it might look like in the future.

Is Cade Webber under contract and could he join the team in the works?

Kif: I know some of this stuff has been out there, but nothing has come across my desk right now as to what it looks like or what its potential is. I don't know if anything is finished at the moment. It's not on my radar right now.